LN803     
Spanish: Level Four (Fast Track)

This information is for the 2025/26 session.

Course Convenor

Requisites

Assumed prior knowledge:

Language skills and knowledge of Spanish at B2 level of the Common European Reference Framework for Languages are required.

Additional requisites:

This is an advanced course. Students should have previously learnt … see the description of “Communicative content” and “Structural Content” of Level 4 standard (LN785). Admission into the course upon completion of level test and tutor’s approval during the needs analysis session. Student profile: For students with a very good level of fluency in the language.

Course aims:

• To develop the ability to use Spanish effectively for purposes of dealing with complex work tasks.
• Including the following: Understanding long and complex factual texts, business reports, analytical data and associated marketing and commercial material.
• Understanding with few serious problems other texts relating to Politics, International History, Economics and other associated areas.
• Understanding extended speech at conferences or lectures, and interactive speech during meetings or seminars.
• Following TV programmes and recorded material without great effort in a wide range of both general and subject specific areas.
• Presenting clear, detailed descriptions of a wide range of subjects in the field of Social Sciences, integrating sub-themes, developing particular points and rounding off with an appropriate conclusion.
• Expressing themselves fluently and spontaneously without much need for obvious searching.
• During presentations they will be able to argue, counter-argue and interact effectively.
• Relate to other speakers and link various strands of discussion.
• Expressing themselves in a clear, well-structured text, expressing points of view at some length.
• Writing detailed expositions of complex subjects in an essay or report, underlining what they consider to be the salient issues.
• Writing different kinds of texts in an assured, personal style, appropriate to the reader in mind.
• To bring the students to level B2/C1 of CEFR.

Communicative content:

• Expressing emotions, feelings, desires and preference.
• Expressing suggestions, advice and opinions.
• Paraphrasing.
• Organising a complex oral speech.
• Organising a complex written discourse.
• Summarising.
• Talking about: Politics in Spain and Latin America.

Structural content: Revision of the indicative and subjunctive mode regular and irregular verbs. Advanced contrast between Ser and Estar. Impersonal clauses. Advanced use of the subjunctive tenses: temporal, causal, consecutive, conditional and final clauses. Links and connecting clauses. Reported speech. Relative clauses. Advanced use of prepositions “por” and “para”. Idiomatic expressions. Periphrasis.

22 hours of classes in the Winter Term.
16 hours of classes in the Autumn Term.

Please refer to the LSE timetable for course teaching arrangements.

16 hours of classes in the AT. 22 hours of classes in the WT. 2 hours of group tutorial time, as arranged by the teacher during the AT, WT, ST. 

Study pack. The course teacher will advise on the relevant grammar book at the beginning of the course.

Oral examination (30%)

Continuous assessment (70%)